Alternate name(s):
Forbes
Nickname:
Alex
Date of birth:
Monday, 15 November 1915
Marital status:
single
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Canadian; Russian Doukhobor
Profession:
farm worker; Communist Party of Canada organizer
Hometown(s):
Toronto, Ontario; Regina, Saskatchewan; Vancouver, British Columbia; Kamsack, Saskatchewan
Education:
high school, 3 years
Political affiliation:
Communist Party of Canada, 1936; Young Communist League, 1937; Communist Party of Spain; In a letter to William Beeching in 1980, he refers to Communists as "you communists." In the same letter, he says he was a gung-ho communist back then.
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1937-10-22
Unit:
Trained with the 2nd Battalion of Instruction Tarazona; Mackenzie Papineau Battalion Company 1 and 3 as company secretary/clerk; Served during the Ebro Offensive, Belchite, Caspe, Ebro Crossing, Gandesa and Sierra Pandols
Final status:
WIA 17 August 1938; Hospitalized 8 September 1938 for wounds in the left thigh, right upper arm, left side and face: Lost an eye; Survived; Interned in French camp; Survived; Returned to Canada 23 February 1939 aboard the Duchess of York; Joined the Mackenzie Papineau Veterans Association (Toronto); Died 30 March 1994
Sources:
RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 548, ll. 68-71; Opis 6, fond 555, ll. 1-7 (under Kabatoff); NAC, M-P Collection, Dent, V. 3, F. 4, Subject Files, Forbes, Alex: Reminiscences of SCW, no date; Momryk (under Kabatoff); Petrou; Ancestry; Hoff
